Unexpected
by delilah13407
Summary: Is it possible to love someone you loathe? First person. Therox. Author's Note
1. My Story

Okay, I know that I've got many stories, and I will eventually work on them, but this is a story that I'm working on for school, so I thought I'd get feedback on it before I handed it in. It shouldn't be too long, but it will take a little while. When I'm done with this story, I expect to continue my others, but I'd like to do this first. I have never done a story like this, so bare with me, and tell me what you think.

_**UNEXPECTED**_

It's strange to think of how love sometimes forms from hate. How can you love someone so much, when not too long ago, you couldn't fathom the thought of being in the same room as them? How can you cringe at the thought of losing someone, when not too long ago, you would have been the one to throw them in front of a train, or toss them over a bridge, or…well, you get the picture. I never imagined meeting somebody who could turn my world upside down. Whenever anybody had used that expression, I snickered and told them they were insane. Maybe you'd have to be insane to fall in love with somebody you loathe.  
BR  
When Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald walked into my life four years ago, I knew my life would change drastically. At the time, however, I was almost certain that it would be for the worst, and now I realize just how wrong I was. I called her Resa, simply because I didn't want to bother dragging out her whole name. I was the only person who called her Resa, and now I like to think that I was the only person she would allow to call her Resa. She was definitely different from everyone at school, different from anyone I had ever met, and maybe that's what made her so special. Of course, at the time, I would literally die before I called her anything but witch. She wasn't bad looking, nor was she completely unpopular. I mean, she did have her friends. But that didn't mean that she hung out with the wannabe models at the school, although she would have probably beat each and every one of them. As I said before, she certainly wasn't bad looking. In fact, if I hadn't despised her so, I might have asked her out.

Resa wore her long, brunette hair in a ponytail most of the time. In fact, I can't remember a time that her hair wasn't tightly pulled back in a neat ponytail or a bun. She always wore jeans, and you never saw her in anything else. She wasn't one to welcome change, and for as long as I'd known her, she had never changed. Well, on occasion she'd wear her hair down and have on a flowing white skirt, but that was very rare, and usually for a holiday or something. For some reason, the girl didn't want to change, but who could blame her, she was beautiful the way she was, and if she'd changed, none of the other girls would even be competition, but don't tell anyone I said that. If the guys found out how soft I've gone, I'd become the laughing stock of school. Well, what's left of school. See, I'm in my senior year, and in less than two months, I'll be out of school for good. Okay, probably not for good. My parents seem to think I'm going to college, and who knows, with them as parents, it's more than possible. Trust me, they can be quite convincing. Anyway, in less than two months, I'll be out of high school, and debating whether I'm interested in college or not. I really don't see the point. But, you know parents, they simply don't take no for an answer, and I never win with them, so why bother.

Getting off the subject of my demanding parents, you must be thinking what reason could I have had for hating Resa, what had she ever done to me? And the truth is, she had done nothing to me. I mean, she had just entered my school, and here I was ready to bite her head off. And I'm sure that's what she thought I would have done if she'd gotten too close to me. Who knows, maybe I would have. The reason I didn't like her, well, to be honest, I really don't know why I didn't like her. And, truth be told, she wasn't too fond of me either. She was very far from fond indeed. Although, by the time I noticed her dislike of me, she kind of had reason. I'm sure she didn't like me from the beginning, but after I'd knocked my lunch all over her and humiliated her in front of the entire school, her hatred became noticeable. I know, that was really cruel, and yes, it was, but that was one of the few things I did that was actually an accident. I mean, a real accident. Yes, there were other cruel things I did that were accidents, but most of the time, I did cruel things purposely, just because it made me appear more cool, and made her appear more foolish, but in the end, that's not what happened. She never looked foolish. She looked at me in distain, but simply shrugged it off. I swear, I could have thrown and handful of spiders on her, which she hated, and she would have shrugged it off. Yes, she would have sent me a death glare, but no words of cruelty would have left her mouth. That's who she was, a Christian. And she showed that every day, no matter what kind of mood she was in.

As I think about it, I'm still unsure what reason I had for treating her the way I did, and I hate thinking about how I must have hurt her feelings, and although she'd never admit that what I did hurt her, I'll never forget the look she'd always get after I'd done something, right before her face turned emotionless and she'd pretend that it didn't matter.

My name is Nicholas Foxworth Crane and this is the story of how my hate for one extraordinary girl turned to something I'll never regret, something I'll remember for as long as I shall live

Please tell me what you thought, and don't be too harsh, I have never done anything like this. I just wanted to try something new. I'm always open for ideas or advice, so don't hesitate to give any.

Denise


	2. Making a new friend

Ok, thanks for replying to this. As I've said, I have never done anything quite like this, so I appreciate your support. And to answer your questions, no, BR doesn't mean anything. I think I accidentally clicked that, so sorry for confusing you, and yes, that statement about his life changing drastically is supposed to mean something, but you'll have to wait until later to find out what, I am working on this for school because we're supposed to write a narrative piece, and that's why I'd never done anything like this before, and all I did was change the names to match Fox and Theresa, and this is much different from everything else, but I'm enjoying it, so I'll continue, and yes, of course I'm going to check over this before I hand it in, but thanks a bunch for the tip, oh, and I'm glad you guys like this so far.

_**PART ONE**_

As I walked into school at fourteen years old, now in grade eight, I realized the rumors were true. There was a new student, and not only that, but it was a girl. Every guy's dream is for a new girl to show up, flawless beauty evident every time you looked at her. Everywhere I turned there were whispers, everybody seemed to be speaking of the newcomer, and I hadn't yet been able to tell whether the whispers were good or bad. I didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Hey bro, have you seen our new classmate yet?" Without waiting for me to respond, Jack Bennett, my best friend, continued, "she really doesn't fit in here."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, my curiosity now piqued.

"Maybe you should see her, Fox, you just might understand," he said, and I immediately shot him a death glare.

"I told you not to call me that again!" I growled. In my opinion, it made me sound like some kind of animal, and that's the last thing that I wanted.

As I followed my best friend to the hallway where a crowd was starting to form, all I could imagine was seeing this hideous creature, her face all scarred up, and lord only knows what else I thought might be wrong with her. That, however, was not what I saw when I first noticed the girl that I'd never seen before. She didn't look ugly, or hideous, or even like some kind of creature from another planet. In fact, she looked perfectly human to me. And if I wasn't obligated to think what my friends thought of her, I might even say that she was pretty, but that thought was never spoken.

"Well, who have we here?" Jack called aloud, causing himself, his friends, and me to laugh a little. I wondered how oblivious this new girl was.

"Hello, I'm Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald!"

Her voice sounded sweet, even angelic, but I could tell, looking into her eyes, that she was anything but oblivious. I could tell that she knew we were the trouble makers of the school, she knew that we would be trouble for her, and in a way, she knew that she could take us all on. She was aware that she would change each of our lives eventually, and at the time, I knew that she would too. I just didn't understand it then, I didn't understand the purpose she had for coming into the school, for entering our lives, and not only would we face troubled times, we would also face something wonderful, something, at the time, I didn't understand at all. And that was when I decided she needed a nickname, and of course, I made up my excuse for giving her a nickname.

"Hello Resa, welcome," I said sarcastically, and although she smiled curiously, she heard the sarcasm just like everybody else.

"Resa, where did that come from?" She asked me, and there's where my excuse came in.

"I just figured that calling you Theresa was too much work, therefore I shortened it to Resa," Smiling sardonically, I was, although I'd never admit it, grateful that nobody else had decided to call her Resa too.

"And just what right do you have to decide to call me Resa?" She asked, the twinkle in her eye enough proof that she didn't mind it, but of course, she'd never admit that. Not in a million years.

That was one thing that the two of us had in common. Neither of us would admit what we liked in the other, and that, would lead to many problems for the both of us, and those around us. Jack's next words cut through my thoughts.

"You're asking Nicholas Crane what right he has calling you Resa?" He asked in disbelief. "You are obviously going to need somebody to tell you who you can mess with, and who you can't," he said, waiting for her response. The immediate response didn't come from Theresa, it came from the near-by girls, the ones who thought they ruled the school, the ones who thought it polite to laugh when Jack was insulting the girl who would soon regret walking into the building

"Well, don't look at me," Marcy Corel, one of the girls who'd laughed, replied. "I know that everybody would die to be me, not that I could blame them, but I just don't have patience trying to explain anything to somebody as …slow…as her," she said, pretending to think of a word to use. I knew there was a reason I never liked her, she always acted like that, which irritated me greatly.

"That isn't necessary," Theresa replied softly, completely ignoring Marcy, but then again, who could blame her. "I'm sure I'll do a fine job determining who I should 'mess with' or not. But thanks for the advice, it really means a lot to me," she said, smiling almost genuinely.

I don't get it. She was just insulted, and yet she still smiled, while insulting Jack in her own way. Anybody who was near could tell it was meant as an insult, but if you were a stranger walking passed, you would believe it was just her naivety playing out. It really didn't sound like an insult, not by her voice anyway, but the way her words were so smooth, if you were there you would just know it was. That's what seemed to irritate me so. She didn't have to be rude to let you know what she thought. She could just let you know by how she said what she said, by how her words came out.

"And who are you?" She asked, breaking through my thoughts.

"Is that any of your concern? I mean, we really don't have to answer to you, do we?" Jack replied before I had a chance. To be honest, I thought he was being a little harsh, but the way she spoke was so irritating that I decided not to defend her.

"Of course neither of you have to answer to me," she said calmly, glancing between the two of us, and then at the rest of the crowd of people she would come to loathe without making it noticeable. "I was simply asking you the same question that you asked me, remember, the question that I answered."

Jack didn't reply. It seemed to me that he felt the same way I did at the moment. He had probably been just as annoyed that she didn't care about the way they were treating her, she didn't care that she may not make many, if any, friends. Of course, she was bound to win somebody over by her coolness, and as if on cue, that she did. Before anybody else replied, Caroline Hailey stood next to Anna. Caroline, or Carrie, was one of the most popular, doted upon girls in school. She had friends that were really popular, like herself, and she had friends that weren't really associated with. All in all, Carrie wasn't a bad person, she was rude at times, and she spoke the truth, or as she saw it, without hesitation. The thing that made her most appealing was the fact that she called it like she saw it, and if she didn't like something, you were made aware of it, no matter who you were. She was definitely somebody you'd want as your friend, not your enemy. Defending her friends was what she did, and it didn't matter who they were. Nobody would mess with a friend of hers and get away with it, and that's just who she was.

"Why don't you go do what you do best, Jack," she stood threateningly close to him, making her feelings toward the situation known.

"And just what is that, Carrie?" He asked, knowing that a smart remark was about to made. I mean, with Carrie, you're lucky to get through a day without a smart remark, and even luckier if it wasn't meant for you.

"Well, for starters, the boys bathroom is just down the hall, if you want a little privacy," as she said this, I swear to this day that I heard gasps from every person in the crowd, in case you haven't noticed, nobody really talked back to Jack, well, nobody except Carrie, who just didn't seem to care what he thought, or even what he did.

It took Jack a moment to get over the shock of her words, but when he did, his face turned blazing red, you could almost see the fire burn inside him. "Just what are you trying to imply, Carrie?" Come on, if this guy couldn't figure out what she was referring to by her words, then he needed serious help, and I couldn't help but smirk at what seemed to be a loss for words. Jack was never at a loss for words, yet he didn't seem to really know what to say.

Carrie smiled at the effect her words had on him. Even at the age of fourteen, some people could just be so cruel, and I knew all about that, since I was just as cruel at the time. "What's the matter, Jack?" Carrie asked, obviously pleased with herself. "Tell me you don't know what I'm talking about?" She dared, but still, he remained speechless.

Well, she had been on a roll, that was until Marcy decided that she'd stayed silent long enough, and wanted her presence to be known. As if you could forget she was around, she'd never let you. "Come on Carrie, you can't possibly defend her. You don't even know her," she stated. Like I said, Carrie hung out with popular people, but she didn't much like the snobby types, and that's exactly what Marcy was.

"That's right, I don't, and neither do you. Who are you to judge her when you don't know her, huh? How can you stand there and try to insult somebody you don't even know? You're despicable, all of you who think you have the right to put her down are despicable." Well, it looked as if she had really nailed it. Carrie wasn't one to speak unless she was sure she was speaking nothing but the truth, and although we'd all denied it back then, that was all she was speaking. The truth. And the truth was, we all really were despicable, and had no right to insult anybody, especially somebody we didn't know. But, we were only fourteen, and although most fourteen year old boys knew the difference between right and wrong, we were the exception. Oh, don't get me wrong, we knew the difference, the only problem was, we were too careless to pay much attention to it. At the time, none of us really cared, we were just living in the moment, enjoying life the best we could, which didn't exactly involve any sacrifices on our parts.

"Carrie, honestly, don't go ruining our friendship because of this new girl who happened to walk in…" Carrie's sharp words silenced her before she finished.

"Friendship? What friendship? You and I are not friends, never have been and never will be. I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to be like you, and I certainly would prefer not being a wannabe like you and your friends too. I like who I am, and I can choose my own friends. You see, I don't have to work to make friends, I like the fact that my friends like me for who I am, not for who they want me to be, because to be honest, they don't have any expectations, and there isn't somebody they'd rather me be than myself. Have I made myself heard, or shall I go on?"

To be honest, I was surprised that Marcy didn't say anything. I guess she didn't have anything to say, not after what Carrie had just said. She knew it was the truth, and so did everybody else there. Marcy had to use her money, her body, and any other means there was to get friends, and yes, being rich made her popular, and she was pretty, but she'd never had a true friend, and although she hung out with the really popular girls, the ones most girls would die to be friends with, it didn't make her look any better. She was still the same Marcy, and that's not somebody a lot of people would like to be.

Carrie's attention turned back to Jack, and I thought for sure that one of them would strangle the other. I wasn't sure who, but I was sure one of them would. Carrie looked angry, and Jack still looked stunned. Leave it to Carrie to silence him. If I'd known she could do the trick without really working at it, I'd have sent for her a long time ago. I mean, I could have used her every time Jack had called me Bran, the nickname I despised more than anything else. "Well, haven't you something to say?" She asked impatiently.

"Yeah," he started, "I don't know who you think you are, but I don't appreciate being insulted like that."

"And your point would be…" she let her words trail off as her lips curved into a small smile. She did that a lot. She would start saying something, and then she would leave off so the other person could complete her sentence. I always found it rather annoying, but never mentioned it. As I said, she wasn't somebody you'd want as your enemy, and I was never one for making her mad. Her temper was hot, and when she was angry, she would turn really red, and then you'd know you were in trouble.

"My point is just what I said, I don't appreciate being insulted like that," he repeated, the edginess heard in his voice. "And if I wanted your opinion, I would ask for it."

For a split second, I thought that maybe Carrie was at a loss for words, but then realized that it wasn't possible, only because Carrie Hailey was never at a loss for words. She was never speechless, and I wasn't even sure it was possible. The girl always had something to say, whether you wanted to hear it or not. It was obvious that Jack didn't want to hear it, but to tell you the truth, I did. This was getting interesting, and I wanted to hear what Carrie would say next, but don't get me wrong, I'd still back my best friend up if he needed it. "You apparently aren't smart enough to ask for my opinion, because if you were, you would have asked, as we both know, you desperately needed it. So, because I'm such a wonderful person, I decided to offer it instead, and I know what you're going to say, but don't be modest. It's my pleasure to let you know what I think," Her sardonic smile remained, and I had even noticed a tint of mischief in her sparkling blue eyes.

Jack had simply rolled his eyes, pretending that her words hadn't effected him, when we all knew, that even he had no control over Caroline Hailey. Although, nobody else had even tried, and I must give him credit for that, even if he did fail.

Resa had been watching silently, amused by the bickering that had been playing out before her very eyes. She hadn't expected Jack to turn so suddenly from Carrie to face her, nor had she expected what she saw when she looked into his eyes. She saw hatred, she saw a bitterness that she'd never experienced herself, and she saw the one emotion that shocked her, envy. And to her dismay, standing beside Jack, was none other than myself. Yet, she noticed, standing beside herself was Caroline Hailey, and anybody else would have been honored to have Carrie on their side. For that, she was grateful. And although I'd never say it aloud, I was grateful too. I was glad that she'd have somebody to stand beside her, even when myself and my buddies were playing cruel tricks. I don't think I realized how relieved I was then, but like I said, we were careless kids back then, I now know how much it meant to me.

Okay, please tell me what you all think. I would really like your opinions.

Denise


	3. Making an enemy

Okay, I want to thank everybody who replied, and please continue to read. Constructive critisicm is always welcomed.

_**PART TWO**_

Things hadn't really gotten bad for Resa until two months into the year, when Jack decided that it was time to show her who was boss, and time to show Carrie that she wouldn't always be there to protect her. Yes, this hadn't only started because none of us liked Resa, it also had to do with Carrie and how Jack didn't think she had the right to speak to him the she had. Of course, he'd never admit that she had gotten the better of him, he would simply say that he didn't like her confidence, but if you were to take away one's confidence, what would they really have left? Of course, I didn't say anything about it. I was actually all for it at the time. Then again, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task trying to waver Carrie's confidence, for no matter what you said to her, she didn't care. She didn't let words affect her, she figured that words really couldn't hurt her, which was probably why Jack had decided we should use Resa to get to Carrie, as he said, we'd be killing two birds with one stone. So, to begin, we started numerous rumors.

One day, Resa and Carrie walked into the cafeteria, like they would every day, and they knew something was up when all eyes fell on Resa. She stared around the room, hoping to find a pair of supportive eyes, but the only eyes that seemed even a little sympathetic were those of Carrie's. When Carrie placed a hand on Resa's shoulder, I got the feeling she was trying to convince her to got elsewhere for lunch. However, Resa wasn't budging. Now, almost everybody in the large cafeteria was laughing and pointing at Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, which brought tears to her eyes. Even from where I had been standing, at the very back of the large room, I could tell she wanted to cry, but she didn't. Surprisingly, she held her head up high, and took a seat with Carrie beside her. Then, I knew that Carrie had seen the piece of paper when her eyes began to blaze. And I mean they literally turned red, that's how angry she looked. At that moment I regretted the action I had taken, not because I felt guilty, no, that feeling didn't come until later, only because I would have to eventually face the wrath of Caroline Hailey, and that was the last thing that I had wanted to do. I watched as she grabbed the piece of paper that had already been passed around the cafeteria, therefore everybody in the room had read it.

"What is this?" She had asked, turning toward Jack, myself, and the other guys that we had considered our friends. On the paper were all of the rumors that we had thought up about Resa, listed from one to fifteen, and what a mistake it was. Not only were we about to be butchered, but we were now the center of attention, not Resa, and that was not how we had planned it to go. We hadn't even planned on Carrie seeing the piece of paper. Then, to all of our surprise, she started reading the piece of paper aloud, evidently very disgusted with each of us. "Pregnant four times, had two miscarriages, slept around with all of the guys in her old school," she paused, glancing at us, waiting for our reactions. Back then, we were pretty good actors, therefore we hadn't shown any reaction to the list that we had made up, and to be honest, it was mostly me, since I was the one who had printed it out. "Please, whatever happened to the other two babies, I mean, she only had two miscarriages?" She asked, her voice was as cold as ice, and right then we knew that we didn't want her to finish the list. Yet, she did. Not aloud, but she looked at the other rumors that we had started, and stopped at one in particular, well, at least she had gotten her answer. "Had two abortions?" She asked, yet to me, it hadn't sounded much like a question. Instead of questioning us anymore, she then turned her attention to the rest of the people and I was surprised that most of them were sitting stunned and awestruck. "And you people," she had begun, her voice no sweeter than she had been toward us. "You people actually bought into this crap, you actually believed what these fools were feeding you, how gullible are you?" Though, she knew that it hadn't been believable, she knew that the only reason they had been acting the way they had was because they hadn't liked Resa from the beginning, and to Carrie, that was no excuse for being so heartless.

"Gullible, us?" It was now Patricia Corry who spoke. She, too, was among the popular girls, and like Marcy, was never able to keep her mouth shut, but I was surprised that she was willing to talk back to Carrie. "The only gullible one here is you, in case you haven't noticed. You think she's this sweet little angel, but she's really not, and I wouldn't be surprised if she did get pregnant four times, and I wouldn't put it passed her to abort two of her babies. And being as crazy as she is, she probably threw herself down the stairs or something just so she would miscarry the other two babies," she said, and at first I wasn't sure that Carrie had even heard her. I hadn't seen a reaction from her, nothing. Her face wasn't bright red like it got when she was really angry, she hadn't slapped Patricia yet, she wasn't yelling, or saying anything for that matter. For a good couple of minutes, she just stood there, doing nothing. And then I had come to the conclusion that maybe she believed it, maybe she had listened to Patricia, and believed the rumors we started, maybe she wouldn't stick up for Resa anymore. But, as it would seem, neither were correct. She had heard Patricia loud and clear, and it was pretty obvious that she didn't believe a thing that paper had said. I noticed her take an intake of breath, and that was when I realized that she was simply trying to calm herself, she was too angry to speak, so she'd let it slide until she didn't feel like strangling Patricia.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about," she finally said, her voice quiet but menacing at the same time. "And when you don't know what you're talking about, it's usually best not to talk at all, don't you agree?"

At that point, Patricia recoiled. Carrie had been standing dangerously close, and her words had been dangerously quiet, I think most of the room was afraid of her at that moment. I know I was, knowing how she can get and all. Patricia didn't seem to know what to say, how to act, she didn't even seem to know where to go. Honestly, she had looked like she wanted to run and hide, never to come face to face with Caroline Hailey again. However, there really wasn't anywhere to run, nowhere that was safe, anyway.

"That's what I thought," Carrie had stated, turning away from Patricia. She had turned toward Resa, who still didn't seem to know how to react. I didn't think that she had ever been disrespected as she had while being in this school, and it had showed on her face. "Lets go, Resa. We don't have to stay here with these idiots," she said, although Resa hadn't moved. "Resa?"

"No, Carrie, it's alright. We'll stay," as she said the words, I could tell that she really hadn't wanted to. She had just wanted to prove that she wasn't about to run away. She had wanted us to know that she wasn't backing down, and that would only make Jack and myself work twice as hard to make her life miserable, and I know it sounds mean, but I really hadn't felt bad for her. How could I? I didn't even know her, and it would take a lot of getting to know her to make me realize what a mistake I had made, and at the time, I hadn't planned on getting to know her at all. She was just a toy, we'd just play around a little, but we had never really gotten sick of it. We would never feel bad for what we'd done, and maybe Jack had influenced my decision most of the time, but in the end, it was I who chose to go through with the torture, and yes, I would later regret it.

"What do you mean? Are you sure that you want to stay? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to ditch…" Resa's words cut her off in mid sentence.

It had seemed as if she was going to relent for a moment, but I realized I was wrong when I saw her shake her head. "No, no, we can stay," and that was all she said. Nothing about how wrong we were, nothing about how cruel some of us were, if not all of us, nothing about any of it. The only thing she had to say was that they didn't have to leave, they could stay, and although she had she had tried to hide it, the look of hurt flashed across her eyes before she covered it with an almost real smile. I was almost certain that Carrie would push it, that she wouldn't accept staying, but she must have realized that Resa wasn't budging, because she just nodded and sat back down, giving Jack and myself a glare that told us to back off, and it probably would have been smart had we listened, but in case I didn't mention it, we were quite hard headed back then as well.

Just as everything had seemed normal again, Jack had to open his big mouth, and believe me, I have never forgiven him for that, I mean, I really don't think he knew when enough was enough. I knew he was asking for trouble the minute he started to walk up to Carrie, and I tried to stop him, I really did, but he was stubborn, just not as stubborn as Carrie Hailey, and never had we really seen that until that very day. I don't think anybody could be as stubborn as Carrie, but I knew Jack would try, and I knew he would expect me to back him up, and I knew that not only would he be in big trouble, but I knew that I would too. "You must really have faith in this poor soul, right?" The poor soul that he had been referring to was Resa, and for a moment, I thought Carrie might lash out at him, maybe even rip him to pieces. Yet, she did no such thing. She didn't seem to care about the words he had spoken.

"Must I?" She challenged him, and by the way he looked, he hadn't liked it. "In case you haven't noticed, Jack, I seem to believe that out of everybody in this school, she is the purest. Have you an objection?" Wow, this girl was good. And true. I knew that Resa wasn't evil, such as all of the other people in our school, and I believe that Jack had known that, too.

"Maybe she's so pure because nobody wants her. Most guys just look at her and that's all it takes, they stay as far away as they can," he had replied, gaining many laughs from many different girls in the room. As if they were any better looking, I think not. Don't get me wrong, they weren't ugly or anything, at least not all of them, but neither was Resa, and she could probably have beaten almost every girl there with her looks.

"A lot of sense you make," she said sarcastically, probably getting ready to argue her case, or rather, Resa's case. "If nobody wants her, then how is it she was pregnant four times, oh, and if I read number nine correctly, by four different guys? Hmm, how is that, Jack?" I could see Jack's mind working, trying to figure a way out of the lie he'd gotten himself into. I knew that note of rumors was trouble, okay, so I helped out a little, or a little more than a little, I still knew it would lead to trouble, although the problem may have lied with the fact that I never told any of the guys it was trouble. Maybe I should have, not that they would have listened. Jack had turned to me for assistance, like I was supposed to get him out of the trouble he'd gotten himself into, and when I looked back at him, I knew that was exactly what he had wanted me to do. Okay, so I wasn't very good at lying or making fun of people, I didn't say I didn't do it, I just said I wasn't any good at it. Jack wanted me, of all people, he wanted me to get him out of trouble. Not likely. Of course, I hadn't said that, I had to try to make up something.

So, there I was, bailing my friend out of trouble while making Carrie a bigger enemy than she had already been. "Who said it had been consensual on their part?" I had asked. Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous now, but it was all I could think to say, and I had obviously done a pretty good job, since Jack had started smiling and I heard more laughs than I had before. However, Carrie hadn't laughed, and neither had Resa. In fact, Resa had looked disappointed in me, I don't think she knew I had it in me, being so cruel, I mean. Yet, I felt proud. I had said something that had gotten a few good laughs, I had put down the person that most of the school disliked, things couldn't be better. But then, I had to remember that it was Carrie I was about to face, and as I had realized that, my smile was no more.

Carrie had nodded her head, a sardonic smile playing on her lips. "I'm sorry, Crane, I don't think I heard you right," she said, and as soon as she had referred to me by my last name, I knew I was in for it. Why had I said what I said? I mean, did I want to die a slow, painful, agonizing death? Of course I hadn't wanted my life to end that way, but I had little choice in the position I was in. "Do you think you could repeat those words?" Carrie had asked, breaking through my thoughts of the death that was sure to come.

"Umm, I'd rather not, if you don't mind," I had actually been about to stutter, yet I couldn't let my fans down that easily. As I stared at the duet, I watched Carrie turn to Resa, probably about to ask her if they should hang me or shoot me between the eyes. If Resa was as nice as she came off to be, she would hopefully decide to just shoot me and be done with it. If you had ask me, it would have been a quicker death. Yet, neither Carrie nor Resa spoke. As far as I knew, they couldn't read each other's minds, so maybe, just maybe I was safe. And maybe my relief had come too soon, for I was far from safe.

"What do you think?" Carrie had asked Resa. I had tried to read Resa's mind, but came up blank. I had no clue what she was thinking, what she was about to say, I didn't even know if she'd at least pity me. I mean, it's not my fault who I am, is it? I know I can decide who I want to be, but we were only fourteen, they really couldn't expect that much back then, could they have?

"They're just words, Carrie, they can't hurt me. They could hurt my feelings, if I let them, but I'm not. I say we just forget about this whole incident." Okay, so after she had said that, I was feeling slightly guilty, but who wouldn't be. She had sounded so small, innocent, as if she could do no wrong, to be honest, she had sounded like a little girl with a little voice. If I had looked at Jack, I'm sure I would have seen guilt written on his face too, but I wasn't willing to hold my breath on that. He did seem to have a black whole where his heart supposedly was. I mean, there have been times I thought I'd seen it, and that's bad. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I'm pretty sure it's there anyway.

"You're really lucky, Crane, because if those words have been meant for myself, you wouldn't be standing there right now, I'll tell you that. Why Resa would just let it slide is beyond me, but the point is, she is letting it slide, and I can't do anything about that," she had said, turning away from me, with the intention of not looking at me again. Okay, so Resa had pretty much saved me that day, and yes, I had been feeling quite guilty, but it hadn't mattered. I got over the feeling, yet I knew that it wasn't over, far from over, actually. I knew that Jack wouldn't stop at this, he'd just find something else, and put us all in the same predicament, one that I didn't want to be in.

I hope that you all enjoyed this, and please reply. Thanks.

Denise


	4. Our Confrontations

A/N: Ok, this chapter is up much sooner than I had anticipated. I thought maybe a few days, but I just spent about an hour after I finished my homework writing this, so I hope you all like, and thanks so much for the replies. Enjoy! Okay, this chapter has been revised, and I think that I fixed my problem, but if you see the names messed up again, don't hesitate to tell me.

_**PART THREE**_

Had I known what an impact Resa would have on my life, she wouldn't have been hurt at all by me, but the facts remain the same, I hadn't known, and believe it or not, I was no nicer to her than Jack or anybody else in school, excluding Carrie, of course, and her friends. They may not have liked Resa much, but she was a friend of Carrie's, and any friend of Carrie's was a friend of theirs. That's how people were back then, friends helped friends, they respected their wishes and accepted their decisions. Which was why I couldn't let Jack down, I had to do what I had to do to make sure I remained loyal, and I wasn't about to allow the Lopez-Fitzgerald girl to ruin everything. I know, I'm making excuses, and to be honest, there is no excuse for what I've done, there is no excuse for a lot of things, and yes, I have many regrets. Anyway, I managed to screw things up big time with just a few simple words. The confrontation from hell, that's what I liked to call it, no other title seemed to fit. She had walked up to me one day, she had been friendly, she had been forgiving, she had been kinder than any of my so-called friends had ever been and I shot her down, I had caused her eyes to well with tears, I had caused her pain, more pain than I had ever wanted to.

"Nicholas," she had said gravely, knowing she was taking a big risk. "Is it alright if we talk?" Her voice had sounded so meek, yet it held a strength I could have never imagined. "I have something I would like to say," at that, I had looked at her strangely, as if she had two heads or something. Why had she wanted to talk to me? Hadn't she been aware of the people I hung around with? Why chance it? Well, she had chanced it, she had taken a risk that not many girls would have done in her position, and that is one of the many reasons I had admired her, still do admire her. "Are you going to say anything?" She had asked, and I'm sure she had been feeling uneasy due to my being non-responsive.

"I really don't have anything to say, Resa, and if I were you, I'd go pray for my soul, because you're talking to somebody almost as sinful as the devil himself," my every word had been laced with cruelty, but as I looked back at Resa, she hadn't moved an inch from where she'd been standing. She was still there, watching me, waiting. Waiting for what, I didn't know, maybe for me to continue, but that hadn't been my intention. What was wrong with this girl? Why wasn't she leaving me alone, especially after how rude I had been? She was still staring expectantly, as if I had something nice to say to her. That wasn't going to happen, especially when we were just outside of the school at lunch, still in ear shot of a few students. "Why are you still here? I have a reputation to keep up and there is no way I'm going to be seen with you for too long, so if you don't mind, please go away," okay, so they weren't the nicest words I could have said, and yes, Resa did look a bit taken aback by them, but her emotionless façade never dropped.

"I wouldn't dream of that," she had replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at me. She was tiring, here she was, annoying me to no end, and then she rolled her eyes at me. Where had she gotten her nerve? "Look, Nicholas, when I looked at you with your friends, I thought that you were different. You looked different, better, maybe even kinder. I can't believe how wrong I was about you. You're not kind, you're not nice, and you're no better than any of those cruel people you hang with. It's kind of funny," she let out a small laugh, one that I hadn't believed to be real, and continued. "I thought that you were good, compared to all of your friends, I thought that you were good. I didn't see you as being mean, I didn't see you as being heartless, and I never would have seen you as helping to spread rumors about me," she paused for a moment, trying to keep her composure, "what have I ever done to you? Why me, of all people, why me? I never did anything, to any of you, and yet you still don't hesitate to try and make me miserable, and I must admit, you almost succeed, but there's always a brighter side to look at. All I want to know is what I've ever done to you? Please, you at least owe me that much, just tell me what I've done to you or your friends," she stopped, waiting for my answer, and when it hadn't come, she nodded her head as if expecting it and slowly walked the other way. Why couldn't I have just answered? Why couldn't I just tell her what she wanted to know? The answer was simple, really. She hadn't done anything to any of us, but I couldn't have told her that, could I have? What if I had, what would her response have been? Well, I guess we'll never know now because I hadn't said that, I hadn't said anything. Maybe I should have ran after her, maybe I should have called out her name to get her attention, but eyes had been on me, and my reputation had been at stake.

The next day at lunch, instead of going outside like the previous day, my friends and I stayed in the cafeteria. Resa must have had the same idea, because as we walked in, she was sitting there with friends of Carrie's. Surprisingly, Carrie hadn't showed up at school that day, therefore Resa really hadn't had anybody to back her up. She hadn't had anybody to defend her, to stand by her, to take her humiliation and put it on somebody else, such as Carrie would have done. As I had walked by her with my lunch, my grip had accidentally loosened, and…well, I'm sure I don't have tell you what had happened. My tray had dropped, splattering all over Resa, all over her hair, her clothes, her shoes, everywhere. Still a little taken aback and stunned, she had looked up at me, allowing me to see her glittering eyes that were wide open with surprise. I could tell that her emotions were about to get the best of her and that calm façade was about to fade away, but surprisingly, it didn't. I hadn't expected her next words to resemble a mixture of disbelief and distain, but sure enough, they did. "Why on earth did you just do that?" She had asked, locking eyes with myself. I couldn't answer her. I hadn't known how to answer her. The truth is, I hadn't planned on doing that, it had been an accident. I hadn't meant for it to happen, and what a coincidence that it had happened to Resa, out of all of the people in the cafeteria, it had happened to Resa, the one that we had been nothing but cruel to. Of course, I could have told her I hadn't meant it, I could have told her it had been an accident, but she wouldn't have believed me. Knowing what I had been capable of, Resa wouldn't have believed a single word I said. Of course, I also could have offered to help her clean her clothes off, or I could have offered to buy her a new outfit, but would she have accepted? I highly doubt it.

"Resa, I really didn't…" my sentence had been left unfinished as her hand rose to stop my flow of words. She stood there, not saying anything, not making any move, she just stood there. I knew that she had been trying to keep her composure, but it looked like she was about to lose it, it looked like she wanted to strangle me. I watched the different emotions cross over her features, but still, she just stood. I had tried to read her expression, to figure out what she'd been thinking, but her face was blank. She had obviously had enough control to hide her feelings, well, at least until she had spoken.

"Save it." She had said quietly, calmly. There was nothing threatening about her tone, it was the way she had said it that sounded menacing to myself. Maybe it was just how calm she had acted, but something made me feel very insecure about her. "I don't want to hear your excuses, I don't want to hear anything you have to say." The entire room had erupted into a fit of giggles, which had made me feel worse about what I'd done than Resa herself made me feel. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like we were friends or anything, it's not like I even liked her then, yes, I may have felt guilty, but I still hadn't liked her. Now, I know that sounds unkind, but it's true, as bad as I had felt for what I'd done, I still didn't take a liking to her. Maybe my friends had brainwashed me, but she was just an outsider in my book, and at the time, I hadn't expected her to ever become anything more. "I was wrong about you from the beginning. I had believed you to be better than your friends, to actually care about other's feelings, I had believed you to be a good person, and then yesterday, after the cruel things you had said, I had felt differently," she paused, but I knew she still had more she had wanted to say, so I let her continue. "Then, after I'd had time to think about it all, I had decided that I'd just caught you at the wrong time, you were upset, and you took it out on me. That's what I had thought. I had even considered the possibility that you had been so cruel because people were watching, but I was wrong, and I admit I was wrong. You're not thing good, kind-hearted person I had believed you to be. You are just as cold and calculative as your so-called friends, maybe even worse," as she was about to walk out of the room, she turned to face me once more. "I never expected this from you, Nicholas, never in a million years. I really did have faith in you, I really did believe you to be a good soul, how very wrong I was. What could have possibly driven you to do something so heartless, I'll never know," and as her last words slipped out of her mouth, I had noticed a lone tear escape from the corner of her eye, going unnoticed by everyone except myself, who watched as she quickly wiped it away, walking out of the room.

At the time, I suppose I may have had mixed feelings for Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, but what I knew for sure was I couldn't let her leave thinking that I had done that on purpose. So, without thinking clearly, I ran out of the cafeteria after her, knowing that I had many pairs of eyes watching my every move. Now, you may be thinking that I go find her, fix things, and everything's alright between us, maybe even good, but that wasn't the case. That was too easy, and back then, nothing like this was ever easy. So, after a moment, I caught up with her and grabbed her arm. I hadn't expected her to whirl around as fast as she had, or for myself to jump back like I had. Although I had never told anybody before, in that moment, she had intimidated me, and that didn't happen often. She glared at me for a few seconds, and then gave me a questioning glance. Well, I was new to this apology thing, therefore my words came out a jumbled mess. "Resa, I…I came to tell you…I just wanted to say…I really didn't…" As I'm sure you could guess, apologizing wasn't my thing, and to be honest, I really didn't know how to go about it.

"Look, Nicholas, unless this is important, I'd rather be home cleaning myself up," she had said more harshly than intended, and I could tell that she had been just as taken aback as myself. Okay, so I deserved that, but I still had something I had to say. However, Resa was hard-headed, and didn't seem to want to listen to a word I said, not that I could blame her. Before I had said anything more, she was already walking away, leaving me there looking dumbfounded. After a moment, it finally registered, and yet again, I ran after her, calling her name the entire way. Finally she stopped, crossing her arms over her chest. She had raised an eye brow, expecting me to say what was on my mind, but I hadn't. I had just stood there, not doing anything. In fact, I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to say.

Resa shook her head, a sarcastic smile playing on her lips. "Look Nicholas, you have a reputation to keep, and talking, or rather, not talking and just standing with me will look bad for you. That's not what you want." Her tone had sounded bitter, and I couldn't even blame her for it. She had wanted me to deny it, but I didn't. And when she realized that I still wasn't going to say anything, she walked away from me, this time swifter than before, as if warning me not to follow, not that I would have anyway. I had too much on my mind to try to talk things out with her too. Now, you may think that after this I was nicer, even friendlier to her, but that wasn't the case either. If anything, I had turned more cruel toward her, maybe because I was trying to prove to everybody that I didn't like her, or maybe because her words had gotten to me and I hadn't wanted to face them. Whatever the reason, I had turned on her. Not only that, but it seemed as if she had turned on me too. It had seemed as if she had turned colder to me, maybe even more harsh than she had been before. Of course, I did deserve it.

I knew, however, that I would regret my actions when Carrie came back, if Resa decided to tell her. But, the only thing that seemed on Resa's mind was why Carrie wasn't there, she was always there, always had perfect attendance, so why wasn't she there now? I knew that Resa had wondered the same thing as myself, and when we received the answer, both of our lives would change, forever.

A/N: Feedback is appreciated and constructive crytisicm is welcomed. Thanks.

Denise


	5. Author's Note

A/N: Ok guys, I just wanted to thank you all for the replies, they're wonderful. I know it's been a little while since I've updated, sorry about that, but everything's been hectic. A kid in my school has just died, not going to mention any names for fear of tarnishing his memory, but everything after that has just been depressing. I didn't know him well, but I feel really bad for his family so it's been really hard to concentrate. I really appreciate the

replies that have come, and hopefully I will have a new part up soon. I have already started it, so it shouldn't take too long. Thanks again.

Denise


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